Just a friendly Txt

He'd send Ronnie a few messages after he'd got home, but she'd never replied. It was probably a safe bet that her phone was offline. But Nils had been to see her now, he'd heard, and she'd apparently been thinking about trying to go back to work, finally. Simon felt sort of awkward, but the next time he knew he would see her was gaming night, if she felt up to it, and *that* felt even more...strange. So, he thought he'd try another shot at remote contact. he flipped open his phone, since she hardly checked her email on a good day, and pulled up her number.

"Hey R - N said he talked to you, just thought I'd see how you are.

Ronnie was finishing the last of the main phase of cleaning her room. The cigarette boxes and dirty platres had been dealt with. The window was open and a warm breeze was clearing out the last of the cigarette fumes that the febreeze had missed. The only big things left to do were laundry, dusting, and making the bed. She paused from picking up clothes and tossing them into the laundry hamper when she heard a familiar vibrating noise.

It was her phone. She had finally gotten around to plugging it back in this morning and nowleft it on her nightstand to charge. Picking it up, she saw the Simon had texted her... a lot.

"Shit..." she muttered to herself as she flipped through the texts going back for the last two weeks. A pang of guilt ran through her. Apparently everyone had been worried about her.

She stood for a moment plucking away at a new text message.

"ya he did. im... better... now. sorrry i havent been in touch lately. how much do you know about wut went down???"

It was good to her from her - he felt a little relieved, at least. He'd heard some of what had happened from Connie the day after, but she'd been distracted helping Nils, and there were a lot of details that he knew he was missing. But getting them from Ronnie, after what he'd heard, seemed a little off.

"No worries! I heard enough, probably - Sorry :/"

Ronnie smiled and sat down on her bed cross-legged, untying the scarf that was keeping her hair up.

"don't worry about me. i think ill be ok now. it was just alot to deal with all at once. i quit my job last night. i hav a feeling that will help sum. now i just need to figur out how im gonna eat. lol!

"Okay." He typed, hoping he could take her at her word - that she was going to be okay. he wasn't sure that he should say how relieved he was that she wasn't going to be stripping anymore. There was something about the situation that had always made him more uncomfortable that he'd had any right to be. "You Quit? You need some time or are you looking for something else?"

"not sure." she typed, but she didn't send it right away. For a long moment she sat there biting her lip lightly. She honestly hadn't considered what she was going to do now.

"i kinda need to do something. ill go crazy just sitting around here. well crazier anyway. plus i really need the money. i guess its time to think about hitting the pavement with applications."

Well, searching, at least, was something he could help with.

"Pfft pavement - all the good services are online. Any idea what you're looking for? I could have a look for you."

Ronnie smiled. She should have thought of that.

"i dont want to impose on you. i could probably look myself. im not that bad with computers you know ;P besides i dont even really know wut im looking for. im not qualifiid to do a hole lot."

He thought about that for a minute - he couldn't imagine she had a lot she could really put on her resume for most jobs. Dance stuff maybe, but there wasn't much of that around.

"I know a girl who used to teach line at the rec - doesn't pay much :/

What about web stuff?"

She considered it for a bit. Teaching dance would be a lot better than stripping. And hopefully it would mean she wouldn't have to dance in front of an audience again for a while. As far as web stuff...

"ya i should look into teaching. i no thers a dance acadamy out on longmire and another in bryan. plus the rec. im not sure wut you mean by web stuff. im not exacly the entrapenur type and i dont think anyone else would hire me without a degree."

The problem, he considered, with a lot of internet-run work from home type jobs were that a lot of them were scams - or involved scamming other people. Probably it hadn't been a great idea for her. That said.... he did know *one* small internet business that could probably do better with some extra help.

"Ha - well you could always come work for me! "

He wasn't sure she would take it seriously, but the more he thought about it, the better the idea seemed. he really could use a hand - and he was pretty sure he wasn't going to have a job next year, the way things were looking in the department. They might want to keep him, but they didn't have the budget. he'd hoped to have some time to build stuff up some more over the summer, but having someone 'on staff' would give hi a chance to concentrate on a lot more of the background stuff, as well as taking more, and more challenging, clients.

Simon didn't have to wait long for a reply. It was only one word.

"seriously?"

He sighed, but texted back.

"yes seriously - I was just thinking about it - it could work out pretty well, but it might be kinda slow to start."

Ronnie was stunned. She knew that Simon had his own company and made decent money doing online investigations, but she never dreamed that she might end up working for him. After all she didn't even own a computer...

There was a thought. She'd have to find one to be able to make this work, but she figured Simon could probably help her get one for cheap.

A million questions ran through her head as she stared at the phone.

Would she be making enough to live on? What exactly would she be doing? Would their friendship or supernatural activities get in the way of business? What happened if the business went under? Would Simon allow her to wear her Carmen San Diego outfit to meet customers?

It didn't matter, she decided. She trusted Simon, and how many people could say they got to work with one of their best friends every day? It was perfect timing and a good opportunity for them both.

Ronnie smiled. Maybe it was fate.

"when do I start?" she texted.

He grinned, a little, glad that he could actually do something useful for once., then chuckled to himself, thinking about Ronnie's own spotty history with online privacy. Well, she'd learn pretty fast.

"I can put a machine together for you to use for now, and show you the programs I have. Whenever you feel up to it, really."

Ronnie looked around at her still-dingy room. She still had a good few hours of work left here. But she was smiling now, and she felt better than she had in weeks. Just the thought of being useful again... of getting out and doing something that didn't involve showing her naked body to leering, drunken college kids made her feel good.

"tomorrow?" she typed, "i can bring you lunch and we can iron out the details."

"Sounds good - see you then!"

Simon glanced around, doing a mental inventory. He probably had most of what he needed, but he could run out and pick up a few things the next day. It bwas good to have a project - something stimulating, and mundane. yes - this really could work out very well for them both...

"see ya then!" Ronnie echoed before laughing to herself. Things were changing. She could feel it in the warm breeze that blew through her open window. She didn't know what it meant yet, but she knew at least that she would be alright. She had her health, her friends, her family, a job... For the first time in weeks she was beginning to feel somewhat like herself again. Things would be okay.

She looked down at her phone again and noticed that Simon was not the only one who had texted her during her... she didn't really know what to call it... her hibernation, maybe. There were many other messages, most from her friends, and one from an unknown number.

She sighed and started scrolling through them.

For a minute or two she sat on her bed reading the texts that her friends had sent, but when she got to the final one her heart skipped a beat. For several seconds she stared at her phone as tears welled up in her eyes. The picture was blurry on her old phone, but even through her tears she could make out Indigo's piercing eyes, his grinning face.

After a long moment she blinked and wiped at her eyes, sniffling back the tears. With trembling fingers she typed out her short response on the phone's keypad.

"Thank you."

She couldn't think of anything else to say either.

The wound was still fresh, and the sudden jarring reminder stung, but her strength held this time. She had loved him... still loved him. But for now she had to let go and put it in it's proper place. She could cry later.

Right now there was work to be done.